Penn Valley Poker Player Wins $50,000 at World Series

Penn Valley resident Patrick Halter has finished 155th of 6,598 players in this year's World Series of Poker "main event", winning $52,718.

The $10,000-entry no limit Texas hold 'em tournament is the 61st and final event of the 43rd annual WSOP, held this year at the Rio casino in Las Vegas.

The main event began July 7, and by early Tuesday morning, all but nine players had been eliminated. Play will resume for the final table in October.

Typically, the top 10 percent of players win money in the main event; the top 666 players cashed in this year.

Halter also won $839 over his $1,000 buy-in from a smaller tournament earlier in the World Series, according to tournament records. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The top finisher from Pennsylvania was West Chester's Paul Volpe, who made $294,601 for placing 20th.